Obey traffic signs

My office would like our readers to know that we are doing our best to communicate with the general public about what we are doing and what direction we are going.

We have heard several comments about the police cars and how much money it must have cost us to get new cars. I would like to clarify that the new “used cars” were practically given to us for a very minimal amount ($2,500) from the department I retired from in Indiana.

It is my belief that the Mancos Marshal’s Office has become a “Professional Department” and is continuing to strive to make it better every day. I believe that part of this process is uniformity and consistency. This includes everything from uniforms to law enforcement to vehicles. When I arrived we had four different police cars of four different makes, models and colors. Some said “Police” some said “Marshal” all with different graphics on them. These cars worked for awhile but were past their retirement time. We need vehicles to respond to the needs of our citizens and we need vehicles that we know can get us where we need to go. We now have four vehicles — three Crown Victorias and one Dodge Charger. All of our vehicles now are the same color, they are all marked the same with the same decals and stars and same equipment. They are vehicles you can be proud of when you see them on the street and used by deputies who are equally as proud to drive them and serve our community.

Now, speaking of vehicles on the street. Let’s talk about enforcement of speed limits and signs. I think it’s important that our citizens know just how some of the laws work. Let’s start with STOP signs. If you come to a STOP sign, you must come to a “COMPLETE STOP”. The stop signs do not mean slow down and check for other cars or slow down enough to coast through because you don’t see another vehicle. It means you MUST come to a complete stop. All four tires must come to rest and the entire vehicle must not be in motion. Anything short of that means that you may be issued a citation for failure to obey a traffic control device. This is an expensive moving violation and will not only cost you in fines, court cost and points on your driver’s license, but will most likely cause an increase in your insurance premiums. So please, obey these signs.

The other thing I want to inform you of is speeding. We see a lot of speeding vehicles in town and we do our best to try to enforce all the laws fairly. But one area that we will not consider giving a break to the motoring public is speeding in the school zone. For most of us, we know what it’s like to have kids in school and just how important it is for that area to be safe. This is especially true for a school that has an open campus where kids could be coming and going at anytime during the day. So I feel it’s important that the motoring public know ahead of time what the penalties are for speeding in a school zone. Here is a breakdown of the fines and charges: 5-9 miles per hour over the posted limit is a $224 fine; 10-19 over the speed limit is a $432 fine; and 20-24 over the speed limit is an $864 fine. These fines do NOT include court costs, points or increases your insurance company may apply.

Our goal at this office is to have a safe, quality of life for all persons who live in Mancos and who visit our community. We wish everyone a safe and fun holiday season.